{"id":50742,"date":"2025-05-24T02:53:41","date_gmt":"2025-05-24T02:53:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50742"},"modified":"2025-05-24T02:53:41","modified_gmt":"2025-05-24T02:53:41","slug":"ravens-may-have-stolen-the-best-undrafted-free-agent-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50742","title":{"rendered":"Ravens may have stolen the best undrafted free agent in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"article-intro mb-4 text-darkGrey font-group-large md:font-group-normal lg:font-group-large\">Eric DeCosta needs to be studied<\/div>\n<div class=\"mb-4 flex items-center justify-between text-darkGrey font-group-bigger\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n<div class=\"mb-0 md:mb-9 relative md:mx-10 md:mb-9\">\n<figure>\n<div class=\"overflow-hidden bg-lightGrey\"><picture><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full\" title=\"Baltimore Ravens, Eric DeCosta\" src=\"https:\/\/images2.minutemediacdn.com\/image\/upload\/c_crop,x_0,y_156,w_6460,h_3633\/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto\/images\/GettyImages\/mmsport\/136\/01jvywp6kn7012esarcy.jpg\" alt=\"Baltimore Ravens, Eric DeCosta\" width=\"6460\" height=\"3633\" data-uw-rm-alt-original=\"Baltimore Ravens, Eric DeCosta\" data-uw-rm-alt=\"ALT\" \/><\/picture><\/div><figcaption class=\"ml-1 pb-2 mt-4 md:m-3 text-darkGrey font-group-tiny\">Baltimore Ravens, Eric DeCosta | Brooke Sutton\/GettyImages<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"flex flex-wrap justify-center lg:justify-normal\">\n<div class=\"flex lg:mr-4 lg:w-[calc(70%-3em)] max-w-full\">\n<div class=\"hidden md:block md:mx-4 hidden md:block\" data-testid=\"share-menu\">\n<div class=\"sticky top-20 mb-3\" data-testid=\"share-menu-inner\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><main class=\"min-w-0 flex-1\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"viewablity-block\">\n<figure class=\"player-wrapper relative aspect-video mb-[18px] bg-grey rounded-md hidden player-wrapper-lg md:block\"><\/figure>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">At some point, there needs to be some sort of study done on Baltimore Ravens general manager Eric DeCosta. DeCosta and the Ravens are routinely considered &#8220;winners&#8221; of the offseason despite the fact that they rarely break the bank for NFL Free Agents and they rarely (if ever) are picking high in the NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">What the Ravens do better than pretty much anyone else is take advantage of the best values on the market and find players who fit their culture quickly, especially compared to other teams.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_1_4\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">And that extends beyond NFL Draft or NFL Free Agent steals. The Ravens find diamonds in the rough\u00a0<em>after\u00a0<\/em>the NFL Draft as well and they might have found\u00a0<em>the\u00a0<\/em>best undrafted free agent in 2025.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"scroll-mt-24 my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Ravens signing Jay Higgins is an absolute theivery among UDFA moves<\/h2>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">All 32 NFL teams have reasons to be excited\u00a0about their incoming rookie classes and at least a couple of undrafted free agents. The Ravens, however, have more reason to be excited than most, because they managed to get Iowa Hawkeyes All-American linebacker Jay Higgins as an undrafted free agent.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Again, Eric DeCosta needs to be studied.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"min-h-[550px]\">\n<div>\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1921249633528930620&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fnflspinzone.com%2Fravens-may-have-stolen-the-best-undrafted-free-agent-in-2025-01jvywmn1kc2&amp;sessionId=dc1780c88bd6089c48a14766462ad4439f1f202b&amp;siteScreenName=NFLSpinZone&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-uw-rm-iframe=\"gn\" data-tweet-id=\"1921249633528930620\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Not only did the Ravens find a diamond in the rough after the NFL Draft by bringing in Jay Higgins, but they might have legitimately found a future starter. Higgins is entering a position battle in Baltimore at the off-ball linebacker position where they should be relatively open for business next to Roquan Smith.<\/p>\n<div id=\"inarticle_d_1_5\" class=\"mm-slot-content\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Trenton Simpson wasn&#8217;t great last year and the Ravens don&#8217;t have anybody that was brought in who is definitively going to be taking that spot this season. Higgins not only provides the Ravens some value in terms of the risk\/reward of simply adding him to the team, but you might get yourself more than you bargained for in a hurry.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\">Higgins was a football magnet for the Hawkeyes and it&#8217;s not like productivity\u00a0<em>found him<\/em>. He found ways to fly to the football consistently, and with so much talent around him in Baltimore, there&#8217;s every reason to expect he will thrive at the next level.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/main><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Eric DeCosta needs to be studied Baltimore Ravens, Eric DeCosta | Brooke Sutton\/GettyImages At some point, there needs to be some sort of study done on Baltimore&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50746,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ravens may have stolen the best undrafted free agent in 2025 - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=50742\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ravens may have stolen the best undrafted free agent in 2025 - 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